Modular, self contained, engineered irrigation landscape and flower bed panel

ABSTRACT

An ornamental planting landscape irrigation distribution and reservoir product and method ecosystem employing a substantially continuous panel on the soil surface on which ornamental landscape plantings are placed or produced, the panel having a primary, lateral water distribution structure which distributes water from a water charging inlet through the lateral area to the panel periphery, where it is restrained, the primary water distribution structure being such that when filled with water or completely submerged in water, air is trapped by the gaps and spaces of the material for ornamental landscape plant usage.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/600,625, filed Jun. 20, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,407,340, whichclaims the benefit of prior Provisional Application No. 60/390,097,filed Jun. 20, 2002, both entitled “Modular, Self Contained, EngineeredIrrigation Landscape and Flower Bed Panel.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to permanently installed irrigation systems andmore specifically to underground, permanently installed irrigationsystems for the irrigation and planting of landscape and flower bedsthat conserve water which decreases labor requirements for theinstallation of the flower bed.

The goal of any installed landscape and flower bed irrigation system isto irrigate the target landscape plants as efficiently as is possiblewith minimum labor and parts, and therefore, the lowest installed costpossible. If these requirements are met, the water required to irrigatethe landscape and flower bed plants is conserved and the cost ofinstalling the landscape/flower bed irrigation system is minimized.Current state of the irrigation systems for landscape/flower beds can bebroken into three broad categories; sprinklers, drip and floodirrigation.

One of the earliest forms of irrigation is the flood irrigation concept.This type of irrigation requires that the flower bed area to beirrigated be manipulated and contoured such that the water will flowinto all of the required areas to be irrigated without leaving theintended area before the water has had sufficient time to soak into thesurface soil. This requires labor intensive berming of the perimeter ofthe landscape/flower bed area and a source of water emission containedwithin the bermed perimeter. The benefits of this type oflandscape/flower bed irrigation are low initial cost of the irrigationsystem with regard to materials and ease of installation. The drawbacksof this form of flood irrigation for a landscape/flower bed isinefficiency due to evaporation as the water sits on the surface of thebed and excessive loss of water due to deep percolation past the rootzone of the plantings in the landscape/flower bed. Another drawback ofthe conventional landscape/flower bed with a flood irrigation system isthe high level of labor required in the excavating and planting of thebed. The bed must have a berm completely around the perimeter and thelandscape plants/flowers must be located at the proper depth. Also, fora healthy flower bed it is often necessary to dig down 12 to 18 inchesand amend the soil to provide suitable growing conditions for theplantings. For landscape and flower plants, the soil must be of atexture to allow for water and air to be available to the plant at alltimes. Still another drawback of flood irrigation for flower/landscapebeds is that by definition the entire area of the bed is flooded,providing moisture for the weeds/weed seeds which exist in theflower/landscape bed base soil, promoting the growth of the weeds. Thisunintended weed growth increases the labor requirement for maintaining awell-kept flower landscape bed. The unintended weed growth can alsoresult in increased chemical herbicide weed killer usage, which canresult in increased chemical run-off and environmental damage.Altogether, flood irrigation has been low on efficiency and high inlabor requirements for landscape/flower beds installation of the bed andirrigation system.

The second form of irrigation to be discussed, sprinkler irrigation, isby far the most commonly used form of irrigation for landscape/flowerbeds. This form of irrigation utilized in flower/landscape beds consistsof pipes located underground with shrub risers with spray nozzlesthreaded on them, referred to as fixed spray risers, or pop up sprayhead or sprinkler devices which pop up and then retract underground inbetween irrigation events. The spray nozzles affixed to either fixedrisers or pop up risers spray out water in a pattern, which sprays outover the entire flower bed/landscape area. Due to the irregular shapeand varying width of flower/landscape beds, it is often impossible totarget spray head water only on the intended flower/landscape bedwithout significant over spray into unintended areas. Also, thedistribution of water from these sprinkler devices is often interruptedin flower/landscape beds due to the height of the plantings in theseareas creating irregular wetting patterns. Sprinkler irrigation inflower/landscape beds suffers from inefficiencies found in sprinklerirrigation of turf areas, namely high evaporation losses from beingthrown in the air and evaporation from collecting on the leaf areamaterial. In addition to the inherent distribution inefficiencies ofbroadcasting water through the air, sprinkler irrigation also suffersfrom the basic inefficiency of attempting to irrigate the entireflower/landscape bed while the planting area may only cover as little as50 percent of the bed. In addition to irrigating the entire areaautomatically cutting the efficiency, the moisture not irrigating thebedding plants will irrigate weeds and weed seeds in the landscape bedsoil, increasing again the need for herbicide chemicals. In all,sprinkler irrigation for flower/landscape beds, while being the mostwidely used form of irrigation, falls short of efficiency and is laborintensive and complicated to install and design.

The third form of prior art irrigation system is known as dripirrigation. Drip irrigation for flower/landscape beds comes in twoinstallation methodologies, subsurface and surface drip irrigation.First for subsurface drip irrigation, a drip emitter line is buried sixto twelve inches below the flower/landscape bed with the lines beingtwelve to eighteen inches apart. The emitters emit water at a rate from0.5 to 2 gallons per hour and are subsurface drip emitter layout grid isto water the soil beneath the flower/landscape bed completely. The gridresults in subsurface watering, but is subject to several limitationsand inefficiencies. The physics of water movement through varioustextures of soil can act to limit the efficiency of subsurface dripirrigation. In a coarse soil, such as sand, the water moves outward andupward due to capillary action, but to a greater extent once the soil issaturated, the water moves downward due to gravity force. This basicform of movement happens in all soil types, to the greatest extent insand and to a lesser extent in a clay soil. As water drops below thedrip line grid, which is already six to eight inches deep, it passes outof the root zone of flower/landscape plants. In addition to droppingbelow the root zone of the plantings, the fact that the grid irrigatesthe entire bed area, where the plantings may only occupy 50 percent ofthe bed area, the efficiency of the water placement is reduced. Placingthe drip line below the bed surface creates several maintenanceconsiderations, such as roots growing into the many individual, low flowemitter devices, cutting of the multiple emitter lines from shovels andmaintenance tools, and plugging of the small emitter orifices with soiland sediment. The prevention of roots growing into the emitters can beaccomplished by impregnating the plastic, which the emitters are moldedout of with a chemical herbicide such as Treflan. To prevent damage fromtools and shovels, the lines must be buried as deep as possible,however, this just makes the problem of water loss below the root zonegreater. In addition to efficiency and maintenance concerns, there isalso the increased labor requirements of installing the subsurfacesystem.

In a modification of subsurface drip, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,711, issued toJonas Sipaila, entitled Subsurface Fluid Distribution Apparatus andMethod, teaches a drainage and irrigation system based upon anunpressurized half pipe contained within a chamber filled with asignificant depth of washed sand material. In this patent, it teachesexcavation down to a required depth, laying of a liner, placement of awater channel, non-pressurized pipe, and filling with a washed sandmaterial of significant depth (13 inches) to provide a growing root zonefor the planted plant material. While this patent method does provide acontrolled root zone, it is very expensive to provide the excavation andmaterial for the root zone growth. Also, the method suffers from beingthe most labor intensive of all types of flower/landscape bedinstallation, requiring complete excavation to a significant depth andtotal replacement of the root zone growth material. Another limitationof this type of system is that it must be installed perfectly flat andin a descending order if more than one unit is installed in a serialmanner. So that in addition to all of the additional labor requirements,there is extensive grading and leveling requirements. This systemattempts to improve efficiency but does so at great expense in cost oflabor and materials. It markedly increases the time required toestablish a flower/landscape bed.

The next form of drip irrigation for flower/landscape beds is surfacedrip irrigation. In this form of drip irrigation, the drip emitters arelocated on the surface of the flower/landscape bed, typically with anemitter for each plant. This form of irrigation does provide increasedefficiency due to watering at the plants only but is extremely sensitiveto disturbance on the surface by tools and maintenance activities. Thistype of drip irrigation is the most utilized form of drip irrigation.The small molded and extruded plastic components of this form ofirrigation are easily destroyed by normal gardening activities such asraking and digging, removing weeds, planting new flower/landscape beds,etc. Another danger is that because of the small diameter tubing andemitters that the point emission devices get moved away from theintended watering areas, increasing inefficiency in the irrigationsystem. While the surface drip irrigation system is not as laborintensive as the flood, sprinkler and subsurface drip irrigation systemsto install, it is still fairly design and labor intensive to calculatethe proper flow rate for each emitter/planting combination and theproper layout of the entire system.

In a recent irrigation system for the irrigation of turf grass inventedby the inventor of the current invention, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,776,entitled Subsurface Mat Amendment System and Apparatus was developed toprovide a simpler irrigation system specifically for the irrigation ofturf grass. This system can be classified as a form of subsurfaceirrigation but because it is a continuous product intended for turf, itis not efficient for the irrigation of flower/landscape plantings.

Aside from the labor requirement of installing whatever form ofirrigation system is selected for the flower/landscape bed, there is asignificant element of labor required in the preparation of the flowerbed itself. Typical steps required to establish a flower/landscape bedin a typical turf grass lawn include: laying out the shape of the area,removing the turf grass, weeds and stones to a depth of 12 inches,bringing whatever soil amendments might be required for the soil basematerial, incorporating the amendments or tiling the soil to give afriable, open moisture of soil, creating border for the flower/landscapebed to prevent invasive turf grass and weeds from penetrating the bed,applying a weed killer to kill any weed or grass left in the bed, andthen finally smoothing out the final surface of the bed. Once all ofthese tasks are completed, then the form of irrigation system can beinstalled to provide moisture to the plants within the bed.

All in all, no none prior art irrigation system for flower/landscapebeds has been developed which is cost effective, easy to install,efficient and significantly reduces the labor requirement of installingirrigated flower/landscape beds, while also reducing the laborrequirement of the actual preparation of the flower/landscape beditself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a general objective of the current invention to overcomethe above-described limitations and labor requirements associated withprior art irrigation systems for flower/landscape beds and also thelabor requirements for installing the flower/landscape bed itself.

In order to accomplish the objectives of the current invention, thesystem apparatus according to the invention includes in one preferredembodiment a panel made up of multiple materials including a plasticbase material, one or more layers of a flexible porous, permeablematerial such as polyurethane foam, a length of tubing such aspolyethylene tubing, one or more flow controlled emission device(s), anoptional water holding material such as a polymer crystal, and connectordevices to interlock the panel with other panels if desired to form amultiple panel flower/irrigation bed if desired and an optional rigidmesh material. The base plastic material that forms the bottom and sidesof the panel can range from a flexible polyethylene sheet to asemi-flexible vacuum formed thermo-plastic shell to a rigid vacuumformed thermo-plastic shell or an injection molded rigid plastic shellcombined with a flexible polyethylene material to form the bottom tray.The base plastic material can very in thickness depending upon thetoughness of the materials but should be such that it is durable enoughto withstand being placed upon sticks, rocks or other possibleprojections without penetrating the material. The base plastic materialcan be solid or with a slight porosity in all or certain areas to allowthe movement of water and air through the rest of the panel. Theflexible porous, permeable material is an open cell reticulated,polyether polyurethane foam or in an alternate embodiment, bonded crumbrubber and polyurethane material. The length of tubing that is embeddedwithin the panel is a typical polyethylene tube of ⅛” to 1-inch diameteras typically used in irrigation applications or in an alternativeembodiment, a cross-linked polyethylene material. The flow controlledemission device is a typical flow control disk with a various flow ratefrom ½ to 60 gallons per hour depending upon the number emission devicesor the desired precipitation rate of the panel. The flow control devicecan also be simply a hole or open end of a fitting which flows water ina controlled manner into the panel. The water holding polymer gel isthat typically available for holding water in a soil medium. Thenon-sealed metallic sheath is a wound metal material made fromnon-corrosive metal and is not sealed to provide water movement throughthe conduit. The push to connect fitting can be a barbed push on fittingor an insert compression type of fitting typically available within theirrigation industry for use with polyethylene pipes. The optional wiremesh fabric like commonly available chicken wire or screen mesh can beadded to the panel to provide additional protection to the finishedcomposite panel.

The invention apparatus in one preferred embodiment is assembled to acomplete product as follows:

1. The flow control(s) unit(s) is inserted into the appropriate lengthof polyethylene tubing.

2. The push to connect connector (either a compression type of fittingas is typically used with polyethylene tubing in the irrigation industryor a gripping configuration such as a threaded or grip device) isinserted full depth into one end of the polyethylene tubing.

3. The tubing/flow control(s)/push to connect fitting assembly isinserted into the optional flexible non-sealed metallic conduit.

4. The base plastic shell material has a first layer of the flexiblepolyether polyurethane foam inserted and secured into it.

5. The optional polymer water holding gel is secured on the top of thefirst polyether polyurethane foam material.

6. The tubing/flow control/push to connect fitting/optional flexiblenon-sealed metallic conduit is then placed on top of the first layer offoam/polymer gel crystals.

7. Another top layer of foam material is created with a geometricpattern of holes ranging from 1 inch to 12 inches to create holes intowhich the flower/landscape plants can be placed into the panel.

8. The top layer of foam with the planting holes is secured onto theplastic/foam/polymer gel/water emitting configuration to create thefinal pane configuration.

The panel is now a complete integral unit that can now be laid down as asingle unit or connected to a series of units to create the desiredflower/landscape bed. The flower/landscape panel bed system is installedby simply placing the panels in the desired area where aflower/landscape bed is desired. The panels can be placed on surfaces ofturf grass, where the grass beneath the panel will die and compostbeneath the panel and not emerge through the panel, leaving just theflower/landscape panels with no sub growth through. The panels can alsobe placed directly on uncultivated soil of any type, as theflowers/landscape plants grow within the panel material. It has evenbeen demonstrated that a thriving flower bed can be grown on solidasphalt in Phoenix, Arizona on the western side of a building. Thepanels can be placed in an arrangement where one panel connects directlyinto another panel or is separated and connected by a length ofpolyethylene tubing. Once the final panel is attached, an end plug orclosure is connected to complete the series of panels or panel. Eachindividual panel should be fairly level to facilitate waterdistribution. The initial panel is then connected to a pressurized watersource and water fills the emission lines of all the panelssimultaneously. The water fills the lower reservoirs of each panel. Thelandscape flowers and plants are planted into the panels by simplyremoving the flowers/plants from the shipping pots/containers or traysthat they came in from the nursery or point of purchase and insertingthe root ball/soil combination directly into the hole. Once all theholes re filled as desired, mulch is then placed on the surface of thepanels and into the holes of any planting holes that were not filled, ifany. As a final step, a border of landscape blocks or stones or mulchcan be added around the panels. Once charged with water, the panelsprovide water air and a root support structure to the roots growing outof the soil/soil combination into the growth matrix, and also astructure for the plant support.

THEORY OF OPERATION

The engineered, irrigation flower and landscape bed panel provides aninstant, irrigated flower/landscape bed ready for the planting offlowers. It eliminates the need to dig out beds, cultivate soil, importsoil amendments, etc. Once connected to a pressurized water source, eachconnected panel(s) fills with water through the first layer of porous,permeable material (typically polyether polyurethane foam).

The landscape/flower soil/root ball of the each plant rests on top ofthe bottom layer of foam material in the pre-cut holes in the top layerof foam.

The top layer of foam material is covered with mulch to hold moisture inthe panel and create a moist, humid 100% humidity zone with a structurethat the plant roots can penetrate into.

The plant roots grow out of the soil/root ball and into the top layer offoam material through the sides of precut holes.

The roots are also able to grow into the bottom layer of foam to pick upmoisture if necessary for support of the flower/landscape plants.

The open cell foam material forms an optimum growth medium for theplanted flowers and landscape beds as it contains ample amounts ofreadily available water and trapped air in an optimum structure forroots to grow into. With a partially porous to non-porous bottom andsides, there is no loss of the irrigation water to the lower surfacethat the landscape panel is placed on. With the mulch surface on the topof the panel evaporation through the upper surface of the landscapepanel is also minimized, creating a watering situation where all thewater emitted into the landscape panel is available to the landscapeplants. The dewatering of the panels is accomplished mainly through thetranspiration of the planted material within the panels.

Water movement throughout the panel also occurs via condensationthroughout the panel material as the matrix material below the mulch isat 100 percent humidity. The water is constantly redistributingthroughout the panel allowing for even water distribution not availablein a conventional flower bed soil situation. With the panel installedover the base soil weeds and weed seeds that were present in the soilare not allowed to grow up through the panel material, making for aflower or landscape bed with no weeds. When installed over any type ofsoil area or existing landscape, the landscape panels provide a means tohave a lush landscape/flower bed with minimal input of labor and water.

The landscape/flower panels, once installed with the flower/landscapeplantings, provide a permanent irrigation planting bed system withseveral advantages over conventional landscape/flower beds withirrigation. Some of the advantages include:

1. Significantly less labor is required to complete the installation ofthe landscape/flower bed and irrigation system (no trenching, layingpipe, installing heads, adjusting heads, covering trenches, amendingsoil, tiling, removing weeds, applying chemicals, digging holes, etc).Each landscape panel is an independent, self-contained panel withirrigation.

2. There are no hydraulic calculations for the irrigation system anddesign steps.

3. There are no critical emission device placement requirements.

4. There is no need to prepare the base soil with tilling, amendments,etc.

5. There is no need for the landscape/flower bed to be grown over asuitable soil substrate.

6. There is a reduced need to utilize herbicides for the killing ofweeds that would grow up from the base soil as they are blocked by thelandscape panel.

7. Over spray and wind drift are eliminated as the water is containedonly in the irrigation panel and not sprayed into the atmosphere.

8. Water loss due to deep percolation is greatly reduced.

9. Evaporation of irrigation water is greatly reduced.

10. Runoff outside the flower/landscape bed area is eliminated as thelandscape panel contains the irrigation water within the root zone.

11. The modular, self-contained panels require no excavation as priorart systems do.

12. The non-conventional high flow rate of the discharge device withinthe landscape panel discourages plugging and detrimental root growtharound the emission device.

The above listing of benefits and features, considered with the hardwarelandscape panel descriptions from above will become more evident whenconsidered with the following drawings and descriptions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of one preferred embodiment of the engineeredlandscape/flower irrigation panel showing a cross sectional view and allthe components it is made up of.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the landscape/flower irrigation panelshowing a possible configuration for the pre-cut planting holes.

FIG. 3 is an alternate schematic top view of one embodiment showing theemission device and potential connection points.

FIG. 4 shows an installation of several engineered landscape/flowerpanels in a typical landscape situation.

FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of an engineered irrigationlandscape/flower panel with plant material planted and growing.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an engineered irrigationlandscape/flower panel completely connected to a pressurized watersource.

FIG. 7 shows an equation of how to calculate the precipitation rates ofa panel for area vs. emission flow rate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of one preferred embodiment of the engineeredlandscape/flower irrigation panel showing a cross sectional view and allthe components it is made up of.

The landscape/flower irrigation panel 10 is made up of a non-porous topartially porous bottom and side liner 11 made of a suitable polymermaterial, a bottom layer of porous, permeable material 12, preferablymade of an open cell polyether polyurethane foam, a connection fitting13 for connection to a pressurized water source, one or more emissiondevices 14 connected to a distribution tube 15 of suitable tube materialsuch as polyethylene which traverses the panel between the bottom layerof porous, permeable material 12 and a top layer of porous, permeablematerial 16 which has holes 17 of appropriate diameter drilled into it.The holes 17 typically range in diameter from 2 inches to 12 inches toaccommodate various diameter bedding and landscape plants. The end ofthe traversing distribution tube 15 terminates with a connection fitting18 that can be either plugged or connected to additional tubing and runto another panel.

A layer of water absorbing polymer gel 19 can be located between thelayers of porous, permeable material 12 and 16 to provide additionalwater storage, however the polymer gel can be located anywhereappropriate within the panel.

Although the preferred embodiment is described as having two layers ofporous, permeable material, it can be readily understood that theporous, permeable material can, alternatively, be a single layer ofmaterial. In this alternative embodiment, the holes 17 can be cut intobut not through the single layer of material to have, in effect, thesame structure as the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the landscape/flower irrigation panelshowing a possible configuration for the pre-cut planting holes. Thepanel 20 is made up of all of the elements explained in FIG. 1. Thepre-cut holes 21 can be in a variety of diameters 22 and arrangements asdeemed optimum for a particular planting bed region. The diameters 22can range typically from 2 inches to 12 inches or greater depending onthe particular planting material to be established in the bed. The outerperimeter of the landscape panel 23 can have any arbitrary shape such asrounded corners 24 to provide an artistic or functional flower/landscapebed. The overall shape could be round, arbitrary, square, or whateverwould be deemed suitable for the particular situation.

The lower layer of porous, permeable material 25 and distributed waterabsorbing polymer gel 26 will be visible and accessible through thepre-cut planting holes 21. The attachment fitting 27 andcontinuation/termination fitting 28 can also be seen from the top view,with a portion of the distribution tubing 29.

FIG. 3 is an alternate schematic top view of several embodiments showingalternate possible shapes for various installations. The engineeredlandscape/flower beds can take on various geometric shapes as seen froma schematic top view such as pie shaped 30, as would be used in thecorner of an intended flower or landscape bed, circular 31 as would beused around a growing tree, or in an arbitrary shape 32 as would be usedin a flower bed garden area. The connections 33 and terminations 34, andall other elements are as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above.

FIG. 4 shows an installation of several engineered landscape/flowerpanels in a typical landscape situation. The various shapes ofengineered landscape/flower panels 40 are installed around a schematichouse 41. The various panels 40 are connected serially 42 together whenin proximity to each other. The stand alone beds 43 are connected to awater source from an appropriately pressurized water connection 44. Theentire installation is pressurized from valves supplying the irrigationwater.

FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of an engineered irrigationlandscape/flower panel with plant material planted and growing.

The schematic picture shows a living, growing plant 50 that is plantedinto a pre-cut hole 51 in the top layer of porous, permeable material52.

The roots of the plant 50 are growing into the top layer of porous,permeable material 52 and the bottom layer of porous, permeable material53.

The emission device 54 emits water into the top and bottom layers ofporous, permeable material 52 and 53.

The plant root and sol ball 55 is inserted into then pre-cut hole 51 ofthe panel.

Emitted water collects in the bottom layer of the porous, permeablematerial 53 and moves through the top layer 52 through a combination ofwicking action, mechanical movement and travel as water vapor where itcan recondense in the top layer of porous, permeable material 52 asavailable water the plant roots 57.

The plant roots 57 can also grow into the bottom wicking layer 53 andextract as much moisture as necessary. Because of the unique open cellstructure of the wicking material 52 and 53, preferably polyetherpolyurethane foam with open cells, air is trapped in the material andconstantly available to the roots 57 of the plant. The panel has zoneswithin it of varying moisture level, from nearly saturated to lightlymoist. The plant roots 57 will propagate in the appropriate zones tosupply adequate air and moisture as needed.

The roots 57 growing into the layers of porous, permeable material 52and 53 also provide stability to the plant. The landscape/flower bedirrigation panel is located on a base material 58 of either soil or anysolid material. The panel is connected to a pressurized water sourcethrough tube 59 and water is run periodically as needed to maintainmoisture within the panel. The water holding polymer gels are optionallycontained in area 60. The wire mesh to prevent damage to the panel wouldbe contained in area 61.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an engineered irrigationlandscape/flower panel completely connected to a pressurized watersource. The panel 62 is connected to a valve mechanism 63 which caneither be manual or controlled automatically through a clock controller.The water flows into the distribution tube 64 and out the emissiondevice 65 and into the panel wicking material 66 and 67. Because of thenonporous to partially porous bottom and sides 68 and 69, the water doesnot or very minutely flows into the base material 69 that the panel isinstalled over. The water moves into the soil and root ball 70 throughcapillary action of the soil in the pre-cut hole 71.

The water moves into the top layer of porous, permeable material 67through vapor transfer or mechanical movement.

FIG. 7 shows an equation of how to calculate the precipitation rates ofa panel for area vs. emission flow rate.

The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate theprinciples of the invention, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Various other embodiments and modifications to theseembodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope of the invention as described.

1. A method of installing a landscape planting bed, the methodcomprising the steps of: positioning a panel of porous, permeablematerial over a base surface in an area which is to contain landscapeplantings; creating one or more plant receiving openings in the panel;positioning one or more landscape plants within said one or more plantreceiving openings wherein a root ball of a plant rests at leastpartially within the plant receiving opening and the stem of said plantextends above the top surface of said panel; and blocking the movementof water at the lower surface of the panel with a boundary material. 2.The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: blocking themovement of water beyond the sides of the panel with a boundarymaterial.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:positioning a water supply to direct irrigation water into the panel. 4.The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of: installing a flowcontrol between said water supply and said panel.
 5. The method of claim1 wherein said one or more plant receiving opening are of differentsizes.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said panel is comprised of atleast two layers of porous, permeable material.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein said one or more plant receiving openings are made through onlythe top layer of the panel of porous, permeable material.
 8. The methodof claim 1 wherein said panel is made of polyurethane foam material. 9.A method of installing a landscape planting bed, the method comprisingthe steps of: positioning a panel of porous, permeable material over abase surface in an area which is to contain landscape plantings;positioning one or more landscape plants in relation to the panel suchthat the plant's roots can grow in the panel; positioning a waterblocking boundary between said base surface and the lower surface of thepanel to prevent the movement of water past said boundary; and creatingone or more plant receiving openings in the panel; and positioning oneor more landscape plants within the plant receiving openings, wherein aroot ball of a plant rests at least partially within the plant receivingopening and the stem of said plant extends above the surface of saidpanel such that the plant's roots can grow in the panel.
 10. A method ofcreating an ecosystem for landscape plants, the method comprising thesteps of: positioning a substantially continuous panel of porous,permeable material over a base surface in an area is to contain one ormore landscape plants; positioning said one or more landscape plants inrelation to the panel such that roots of said plants can grow in thepanel; providing a water inlet for said panel; directing water into saidpanel; blocking the movement of water at the bottom surface of saidpanel; and trapping air within said panel.
 11. A method of creating anecosystem for landscape plants, the method comprising the steps of:positioning a substantially continuous panel of porous, permeablematerial over a base surface in an area is to contain one or morelandscape plants; positioning said one or more landscape plants inrelation to the panel such that roots of said plants can grow in thepanel; providing a water inlet for said panel; directing water into saidpanel; blocking the movement of water at the bottom surface of saidpanel; and said panel being made of polyurethane foam material.
 12. Anirrigation apparatus for supplying irrigation water to the root zone ofa plant: a container having lateral and bottom sides defining aninterior space; a body of porous material positioned within saidinterior space, said porous material having spaces allowing movement ofirrigation water through said body and trapping of air within said body;said spaces being of sufficient size to allow plant roots to growtherethrough; and a water-impermeable barrier positioned in saidinterior space between said body and said container.
 13. The apparatusof claim 12 further comprising a fluid charge inlet associated with saidbody for introduction of irrigation water into said body of porousmaterial.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said fluid charge inletis a top surface of said body.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12 whereinsaid body has at least one planting hole disposed therein.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 15 wherein said at least one planting hole is a slitextending from said top surface downward into said body.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 12 wherein said porous material is selected from thegroup consisting of open cell foam, polyether polyurethane foam, bondedcrumb rubber and polyurethane material, and webbed material.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 12 wherein said water-impermeable barrier is awaterproof liner.
 19. An irrigation apparatus for supplying irrigationwater to the root zone of a plant: a container having lateral and bottomsides defining an interior space; a body of porous material positionedwithin said interior space, said porous material having spaces allowingmovement of irrigation water through said body and trapping of airwithin said body; said spaces being of sufficient size to allow plantroots to grow therethrough; a water-impermeable barrier integrallyformed with said container.
 20. An irrigation apparatus for supplyingirrigation water to the root zone of a plant: a container having lateraland bottom sides defining an interior space; at least one layer ofporous material positioned within said interior space, said porousmaterial having spaces allowing movement of irrigation water throughsaid at least one layer of porous material and trapping of air withinsaid at least one layer of porous material; said spaces being ofsufficient size to allow plant roots to grow therethrough; and at leastone layer of water-impermeable barrier positioned in said interior spacebetween said at least one layer of porous material and said container.21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising a fluid charge inletassociated with said at least one layer of porous material forintroduction of irrigation water into said at least one layer.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 21 wherein said fluid charge inlet is the top surfaceof said at least one layer of porous material.
 23. The apparatus ofclaim 20 wherein said at least one layer of porous material comprises afirst layer of porous material adjacent said bottom side of saidcontainer and a second layer of porous material above and adjacent saidfirst layer of said porous material.
 24. The apparatus of claim 20wherein said at least one layer of porous material has at least oneplanting hole disposed therein.
 25. The apparatus of claim 24 whereinsaid at least one planting hole is a slit extending from a top surfacedownward into said at least one layer of porous material.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 20 wherein said at least one layer of porous materialis selected from the group consisting of open cell foam, polyetherpolyurethane foam, bonded crumb rubber and polyurethane material, andwebbed material.
 27. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein at least onelayer of water-impermeable barrier is integrally formed with saidcontainer.
 28. An irrigation apparatus for supplying irrigation water tothe root zone of a plant: a container having lateral and bottom sidesdefining a planting area; a substantially continuous panel formed ofporous material positioned within said planting area, said porousmaterial having spaces allowing movement of irrigation water throughsaid panel and trapping of air within said panel; said spaces being ofsufficient size to allow plant roots to grow therethrough; and awater-impermeable barrier positioned in said interior space between saidpanel and said container.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28 furthercomprising a fluid charge inlet associated with said substantiallycontinuous panel for introduction of irrigation water into said panel.30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said fluid charge inlet is a topsurface of said panel.
 31. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said panelhas at least one planting hole disposed therein.
 32. The apparatus ofclaim 31 wherein said at least one planting hole is a slit extendingfrom a top surface downward into said panel.
 33. The apparatus of claim28 wherein said substantially continuous panel is selected from thegroup consisting of open cell foam, polyether polyurethane foam, bondedcrumb rubber and polyurethane material, and webbed material.
 34. Anirrigation method for promoting plant growth comprising: supplyingirrigation water into a body of porous material positioned throughoutthe root zone of a planting area within an interior space of acontainer; distributing the irrigation water substantially through saidbody of porous material; trapping air in spaces throughout said body ofporous material so as to create available air for plant roots positionedwithin said body; and wherein said step of distributing the irrigationwater further comprises moving the water through said spaces throughoutsaid body of porous material.
 35. The method of claim 34 wherein saidporous material is selected from the group consisting of open cell foam,polyether polyurethane foam, bonded crumb rubber and polyurethanematerial, and webbed material.
 36. The method of claim 34 furthercomprising the step of blocking the movement of water at substantiallyall of the peripheral and lower sides of said body.
 37. The method ofclaim 34 wherein said step of supplying irrigation water to said body issupplied at a charge rate so that the water evenly fills the body.
 38. Amethod of promoting plant growth comprising: supplying irrigation waterinto a panel of porous material positioned throughout the root zone of aplanting area within an interior space of a container; distributing saidirrigation water substantially through said panel; trapping air inspaces throughout said panel of porous material so as to createavailable air for plant roots in said panel; blocking the egress ofwater from said panel at substantially all of the peripheral and lowersides of the panel; and wherein said step of distributing the irrigationwater further comprises moving the water through said spaces throughoutsaid panel of porous material.
 39. The method of claim 38 wherein saidporous material is selected from the group consisting of open cell foam,polyether polyurethane foam, bonded crumb rubber and polyurethanematerial, and webbed material.
 40. The method of claim 38 wherein saidstep of supplying irrigation water to said panel is supplied at a chargerate so that the water evenly fills the panel.
 41. A method of growingplant material comprising: lining the interior of a container with awater-impermeable barrier; placing a body of porous material into saidcontainer adjacent said water impermeable barrier, said body of porousmaterial having spaces allowing movement of irrigation water throughsaid body and trapping of air within said body; forming at least oneplanting hole in said porous material; disposing plant material intosaid at least one planting hole; distributing water into said body; andtrapping air in the spaces of said body so as to create available airfor plant roots therewithin.